Wrench



(NoMode1.)'

W. BAXTER."

l WRENCH. v 110.281,431. Patented J111y 17, 1883.

Fig. f?,

1,., fnVeni/for UNITED STATES 4PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BAXTER, or JERsEY oITY, NEw JERSEY, AssIGNOR To J. ASHTON GREENE, OE BROOKLYN, NEw YORK.

WRENCH.

srEcIFIoATIoN forming part of Letters To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BAXTER, a citizen ofthe 'United States, :residing in Jersey City, in the countyV of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches, fully described and represented in the following speciiication and the accompanying drawings, formy ing a part of the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in the duplex wrench known as the 'Baxter7 wrench; and it consists in the combination with the halves of the wrench, which slide upon one another when adjusting the j aws, of tongues and grooves formed upon the contiguous faces, to stiffen the handle and jaws when in use.

In the Baxter wrenches heretofore known the adjusting-screw, owing to its location at some distance from the jaws, could not prevent the jaws from straining open somewhat when in use, so that the wrench could not be so effectively usedupon hexagonal .as upon square nuts. The outer jaw has also been liable to breakage from the want of thickness in its base; and the object of the present invention is to furnish a means of thickening one side or movable part of the wrench without weakening the other correspondingly and to prevent the yielding or straining open of the jaws when in use, as heretofore.

, The nature of the improvements will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure l is a side view of a wrench constructed therewith. Fig. ,2 is an edge view projected therefrom, and Fig. 3 is an inside view of one half or part of the wrench detached from the other to exhibit the strengtheningtongues more clearly. Fig. 4 shows an alternative construction.

A is one of the two similar parts of which the wrench is constituted, and upon which are formed one inner jaw, C, and one outer jaw, D, the screw E being swiveled in a lug, Z, at the center and tapped into a nut, n, upon the opposite part, A. The latter part is shown in Fig. 3 with four grooves formed upon its inner face, parallel with the guides h, formerly used alone to sustain the jaws when in operation. Two

of the grooves, g, one formed close to the line of the guides h, and two others, i, are` formed Patent No. 281,431, dated July 17, 1883.

Application filed May 1S, 1883.

(No model close to the sides of the nut n. Upon the part A tongues or ribs lc are formed to fit and move in the grooves, g, and by their parallelism with the guides h to resist any strain transverse to the latter. At the base of the jaws the sidein which the tongue g is -formed is made thicker than the oppositepart, whose strength is increased by the re-enforcement of the rib or tongue k.

The difference in thickness of the parts A and B close to the jaws is plainly shown in Fig. 2, as well as the formation of the guide 71 and the stiff'ening-tongue k upon the part A,

and the cutting of the groove g in the thicker part B. The parts A and B Inay be made of uniform thickness below the jaws, as the strain upon them-there is equal, and the use o-f the tongue and groovev near the jaws sustains them in a very efficient manner; but I have shown herein a further means of stiening the wrench by the addition of tongues m beside the screw, which require the thickening of the opposite side to admit of the grooves t'. At this part of the wrench the grooves may be made upon either A or B to produce the same result but the ribs are Inost readily formed at the edges of lug l, as shown.

From the above description it will be under- Vderstood how I am able to thicken the bases of the outer jaws, D, and .how I prevent the springing or straining of the jaws apart, the tongues k operating to re-enforce the guides h, as well as to strengthen the thinner part of the wrench A. The tongues also operate much more efficiently than the guides h in holding the jaws firmly, because they are iitted to bear at both edges in the grooves, and thus resist movement in two directions, while the guides h are fitted in open grooves, from which the working strain is at liberty to p ull them with- IOO tail form, and at m the tongue is formed with a side rib adapted to {it a channel formed at one side of the grooves i, and thereby hold the parts A and B closely together sidewise. If desired, the entire inner faces of both these parts may be provided with tongues and grooves, and thus be rigidly held in any position. It will be noticed that the tongues remain in the grooves during a much greater movement of the jaws than do the guides l1, as the former are twice the length ofthe latter, and remain engaged when the guide is almost entirely inoperative. \Vrenches provided with this improvement therefore operate much more effectively uponlarge nuts and screws than without it.

I therefore claim my invention in the following manner:

l. Theherein-described wrench, comprising twomovable parts or halves placed `face to face XVM. BAXTER.

lVitnesses:

Tiros. S. CRANE, JOHN ASHTON GREENE. 

